LAHORE: The mother of former PTI leader Usman Dar has again accused her son’s rival, PML-N’s Khawaja Asif, of orchestrating a police raid on her house.

The two leaders hail from Sialkot and have been involved in a long-running political tiff, routinely trading allegations and criticising each other. They contested the 2018 elections from the National Assembly’s NA-73 constituency, where Mr Asif defeated his rival.

In a video clip posted on social media late in the early hours of Tuesday, Mr Dar’s mother claimed that she was asleep when the police entered her home.

Standing by a damaged front door, the dishevelled woman accused Mr Asif of being behind the attack and requested the chief justice of Pakistan to take notice.

Claims cops broke into her home, manhandled women; DPO, PML-N leader dispute claims

She said the raiding party manhandled her, tore her clothes and pulled her by her hair. “It was recorded in a video which is available on social media.”

Other women in the house were also manhandled in the same way, she added.

She linked the raid to her decision to contest elections against Mr Asif.

“When they came to know that I was filling my nomination papers, he [Mr Asif] sent 20 odd people to my house who manhandled me.”

Refusing to bow to “political victimisation”, she promised to file her nomination papers for the upcoming general elections and contest against Mr Asif at every cost.

“No one could force me into submission through force or torture.”

“Even if my house is bulldozed and I am put behind bars, I won’t be deterred,” she added.

Dar challenges Asif

The accusations against the PML-N leader were also repeated by Mr Dar on Tuesday, who said Sialkot police “attacked his house” at the request of his rival.

Talking to the media at Kacheri Chowk in Sialkot, the ex-PTI leader lambasted Sialkot District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Hasan Iqbal, saying free and fair elections are not possible in Sialkot as long as the cop remains at his post.

He said if former chief justice Ata Bandial had taken notice of the “police hooliganism” at his house on May 9, “then Sialkot police would not have attacked my house again today”.

Mr Dar claimed he and his brother, Umar Dar, were present when the police entered their house “without a search warrant”.

He said that even if his brother was a wanted man, as the police claimed, they “should not have tortured women and violated the sanctity of his house”.

Addressing Mr Asif, he said his mother would contest the election on February 8. The ex-PTI leader vowed to “stand by his mother and go door-to-door seeking votes for her”.

Claims refuted

Both Mr Asif and the Sialkot police have issued rebuttals, disputing the claims of Mr Dar and his mother.

While responding to the allegations, the PML-N leader said he had nothing to do with vengeful politics.

“I have always respected my political rivals and their families. My wife faced three dozen court appearances, and false cases have been made against my son, who had nothing to do with politics. My politics is based on commitment, principles and loyalty to the people,” the former defence minister wrote in a post on X.

Meanwhile, DPO Iqbal said the raid was conducted to arrest Mr Umar, who is facing criminal cases and “is a proclaimed offender”.

According to the DPO, women present in the house at the time of the raid used abusive language with police officers.

He refuted the claims of manhandling as “concocted” and said: “Using a lawful police raid as fodder for a social media campaign is not an appropriate act.”

Mr Dar’s mother levelled similar allegations in May, when police raided her home to arrest her two sons, who were required for questioning in cases lodged after May 9 violence. She had blamed Mr Asif for the previous raid as well.

In May this year, following the May 9 violence, police raided Usman Dar’s house, and his party and mother made similar allegations. The party tweeted from its official account: “The mother of the Dar brothers was harassed by violating the sanctity of the four walls.”

Mr Dar had quit PTI and politics in October when he appeared in a pre-recorded interview after remaining “missing” for around three weeks.

His mother, however, rejected her son’s stance and said he might have parted ways with PTI, but she hasn’t.“I will continue my struggle and contest [on the PTI platform] against Khawaja Asif in the next elections,” she had said in October.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2023